The present subject matter relates generally to motorboats. More specifically, the present invention relates to a design for a small (approximately 20-36 foot), fiberglass, recreational, fishing, or sport-type motorboat that satisfies three important safety criteria simultaneously: selfrighting, self-bailing, and being unsinkable. The present subject matter further discloses a method for retrofitting motorboats to achieve the same safety criteria.
The majority of boating fatalities have little to do with bad weather or hazardous sea conditions. They typically occur in smaller, open boats on inland waters during daylight hours when weather and visibility are good, winds are light, and the water is calm. Despite these ideal circumstances, passengers fall overboard and many boats capsize, flood, or sink, resulting in over half of all boating fatalities.
Capsizing is when a boat turns on its side or turns completely over becoming disabled. The act of reversing a capsized vessel is known as righting. Accordingly, a vessel may be designated as self-righting if it is specifically designed to be able to selfright when capsized, i.e., return to upright position without intervention. Some boats are designed to be self-righting with minimal assistance.
Flooding (or swamping) occurs when a boat stays upright and fills with water. To prevent this from happening, safety features may be incorporated in the boat design allowing it to be described as self-bailing. Typically, these systems consist of drains that automatically empty water from the deck or cockpit, either by gravity, through scuppers, or by Bernoulli Effect. Other boats have openings that drain water into the bilge or a sump, both of which require an electric pump to evacuate the water.
Sinking is the catastrophic result that occurs when bailing is impossible and the boat becomes fully submerged and eventually totally sinking to the bottom of the sea. A variety of hull designs may be filled with a variety of different lightweight materials to prevent sinking and ensure the boat maintains level flotation and stability above the waterline in the event of an accident.
Safety features to avoid the dangers of boats capsizing, flooding, and sinking, and ultimately save lives, are typically integral to the designs of larger vessels (greater than 36 foot) as well as those of some smaller watercraft primarily intended as rescue or lifeboats, including rigid inflatable boats (RIBS). Ideally, motorboats in the recreational, fishing, and sport classes, which are more prone to such calamities due the increased likelihood of being piloted by less experienced sailors and their intrinsic instability resulting from smaller size, would also include features to address all of these concerns.
However, until now there have been no small fiberglass recreational/fishing motorboats in these categories that successfully fulfill all three safety criteria simultaneously; of being self-righting, self-bailing, and unsinkable, and are able to achieve these characteristics in an efficient, simple and cost effective manner based on a design concept. Accordingly, a need exists for a motorboat design as described and claimed herein.